useful visual tools in writing

When writing something original, as I am now into, it can be life consuming. The stories pull me into them and the energy of what is happening becomes as real to my daily life. I might be talking to my husband or a friend about other subjects (I still keep informed as to what's going on in the world), but my characters and what they do next are always in the back of my mind. I am caught up in the romance, the danger, and adventure. It also becomes my life in a strange sort of way. For me, this immersions is part of what makes writing so rewarding.

As I have mentioned before-- I know the basic plot for any book before I begin laying down words. Between the time I get an idea for a story, there is a lot of thinking and research. I get the basics in my head. That does not mean I won't learn things and find new surprises as the details unfold. For this book, the fourth Oregon historical, I've found a lot of what I planned to use isn't going the way I expected, but it is still happening-- just in a different order. That's another thing I love about writing-- how it seems the story is there waiting for me and it's all about me being able to see it.

When writing fiction, I write fast. On a writing day (not all days are as I do have a life to manage also), that can be from 3000-5000 words. I usually make myself stop at 5000 because I still want that meditating on what happened or comes next time. I do like to get the basics down, but then often, while still moving forward, I'll go backward and redo parts that weren't fitting with what just happened. Or something comes up that requires a change in something earlier. 

The beauty, of having written four historicals with none published, is I can rearrange anything even in earlier books if the fourth needed it. In this case I have not yet had to. There is none of that persnickety business of worrying what someone else already read. I can fix it if I see a need. 

Since I do not tell anyone else my plots, I have total freedom to make those changes. Only in the last year have I begun to discuss plot options with my husband. I have to say I am enjoying laying out options to him especially when they involve some kind of violence. Some writers believe you should tell nobody your ideas as they might undermine your confidence. Others like to have other opinions (letting others read the words) all the way through their writing. It's an individual choice as to what works the best.

Writing a rough draft is fun for me as I get to live through the adventure for the first time. It is as new to me as my characters right up until the minute I write The End. In the case of this book, I think that will mean going back right away to add flavor and details. That's not really editing, which comes later, but part of the original draft.

The map at the top is a tool I have found quite useful in outdoor adventures where my characters need to travel between Point A and B and I need to remember what that they'd see and experience. I like maps that show the contours of the land although since it's a current map, the roads may not be what would have been there in 1867. 

The problem with using old maps, and I have quite a few of them, is they weren't always that accurate for the contours or even where rivers ran. Mapmakers didn't have the tools that they do today. I like looking at both to get a feel for how the hero and heroine got around, where there were communities and what might be in their way. It helps a lot that I am familiar with this country.

After I started writing, I redid my bulletin board. I am loving having that as a way to have up what I will be verbalizing in the story. It is a great tool for someone like me who is verbal and visual.

From research, I have a selection of old photos of the communities. Below them are what I plan to be the covers for the four books (although I know the titles, I will wait on adding them-- this is about the energy of the characters for each). Below that are the hero and heroine for the fourth story-- looking to the right are scenery images. I have spent a lot of time in the John Day area, but photos refresh my memory and bring it back to me. Above, unrelated to this book are the three covers from my Arizona historicals-- below that a couple of snaps from the Starz series, Outlander that represent passion between a man and woman-- something I always try to keep on my mind when writing a love story. 

The card on the board was an opening card for one of my Tarot decks. It is from the Encyclopedia of Tarot by Stuart Kaplan. It fits how I see a lot of writing as well as Tarot. Since I think it'd be impossible to read in the photo, it says, 'What we see in the symbology of tarot derives in large measure from our own intuition and, once revealed, reflects back upon each of us to further enrich our lives.'  When I am writing, I feel very connected to my muse and to intuition. I count on it to point me right-- and see writing as very good for my life

Don't ask about marketing... This week I read an excellent piece on what you have to do if you want your books to be seen. Argh! I just don't think I can emotionally do all that. But what I can do is write with joy and maybe, without all that marketing effort, my books will disappear from view but I still have them all to enjoy-- and one reason writers write is to have books they love to read. :)

You might notice there is a space on the board alongside the third Arizona historical. That is because most likely there will be a fourth. I kind of laid the groundwork for it in the epilogue for Arizona Dawn. That will be my work for next winter or even the spring. I need to think long and hard. I know who the heroine is (you would too if you had read that story) but what I don't know is her backstory or who the hero will be-- there are two good possibilities. I also don't know all that will stand between them, the barriers they will face or the dangers. I do though know its setting and it's one reason I think it'll be written. By the time I start writing that one, as yet untitled, it will probably be January or February. Then I will know my plot and characters a lot better. I am not doing much thinking on it while I am writing this one. 

In the meantime, I need breaks from writing-- for my own mental health. To do that, I intend to read other romances. During my time of editing this summer and writing this story, I only have been reading non-fiction. My Kindle is loaded with what look like good stories. Hopefully in a month or less, I will give myself time to get inside those stories. Every book on there, that I have purchased, looked interesting. I can have a marathon reading session once I start :).

Why shouldn't books and films make us feel good?

In some ways I find it ironic how romances, which are stories of the finding of what is one of the (if not the) most important chosen relationship in our lives, are so demeaned. This happens even when it's a book like Diana Gabaldon's Outlander. She didn't want it to look like a romance because she knew how they were seen by the elites of publishing-- money cows but ill respected. 

So here came the mini-series, which follows the first book on Starz (and hopefully will eventually be available on DVD). It is demeaned also by those who think it's only for women. It's not. It's about a country and a time. It is about what a man and woman can find together-- and that isn't seen just through one relationship. My husband has enjoyed it as much as I have. If it reminds me of anything, it's the HBO series Deadwood-- not for the romance in that one but for the violence.

Here was a good article about this series and also about our society and how we see romance or sexual relationships between men and women in entertainment.

Outlander wedding goes above and beyond

So a film that shows human beings as the lowest of the low, that one is considered to be arty but one that shows them as real people where passion and love can grow into something powerful enough to get past the terrors and difficulties of life, that is not arty... 

Something is badly askew with our media or what we expect from it. 

What I liked in the article was how it made the point why should we not celebrate male beauty as we do female? Why can't women appreciate a good looking man? This is one of the darts that is thrown at romances-- the gorgeous men. Except aren't beautiful women a staple of many other forms of entertainment-- and I might add young, beautiful women?  

This leads to the question I have asked more than once. Why shouldn't books make us feel good-- well unless they are non-fiction? Why do we seek out things that show humans where none are likeable and yet that is considered 'art'? Is this really what people today want? Well if it's so, don't pretend it is real life. It's fiction too-- but just designed to upset.

Gabaldon's books are not just romances, but they have very romantic moments that come as close to real life as the less attractive view presented in say Gone Girl. I am not saying both don't exist as being how relationships can be. But I am saying that Outlander is as real as the other and one is put down as romance or chick fare and the other revered as noir or art.

What we put into our heads is what impacts our view of life. When we read non-fiction, a view say of torture and whether it benefits those who use it as a state technique, that's a very unpleasant topic to consider, but it is based on real life. It's worth getting upset in knowing what is being done to a culture, to earth, to individuals when they condone torture, [insert many words in that spot], but my opinion is only when it is non-fiction. When it's fiction, which is manipulated to feel real but is still fiction, then what goal does it have for us?

I know what the goal was with The Wedding episode in Outlander. It was how it can be between a man and woman. It was to celebrate beauty. It was to delve into what makes it work between a man and woman who are mated for life. Nobody can say it's how it always is. This is for a couple who will be together through a lifetime with as difficult of circumstances as today or in any era, a time of powerlessness and the ruthless behavior of those who seek power over others. It is though about the strength of a real love that will keep these people bonded even when it's not easy. Why isn't that a better aspiration than a very well written story, excitingly paced but admittedly of two despicable persons and a marriage that was a disaster?

After I wrote this piece, I came across the following article where it discusses showing men fully nude in films and how it's been the no-no. Well given how women react to a sexy man's chest, as a no-no on a book cover (at least if it remotely suggests sexuality), I wonder if it's men here who, in a film, don't want the full Monty or it's women... anyway here's the link:  

confronting one of cinema's last taboos-- in the US that is...

astrology and characters

Back into writing and creating a plot/action, a busy time, which makes doing the blog a little difficult. I guess editing works better with creating new work for here than creative writing especially on this story where although I have a general idea of the plot, know the characters, how it all comes together has been up in the air. This happens to be some of my favorite kind of writing; so not complaining at all.

 image from CanStock

 As I got back into this fourth Oregon historical, I came to a scene where the men began to discuss their ages; conversation led from there to when is their birthday. Now I had the year of their births and where it happened but hadn't actually thought I needed their date. Suddenly I did and it was kind of fun to take a look at how astrology might have impacted their personalities.

Since I already knew their personalities-- many of these characters earlier starred in their own books, I picked a birth month based on it fitting who they were-- not molding them around that birth month.

At one time I was really into astrology. Not the horoscope type where you decide if it's a good day to buy groceries based on the stars but the look at the Zodiac for how the average person born at your time will be impacted as to personality. I had a computer program (it didn't work when XP came along) as well as a lot of books on astrology. Using a combination of both, I did a lot of readings for friends, even my hairstylist. I always did it for free, of course, as I was no professional. I did though have an ability with characterizations due to the writing. I only asked one thing from them-- how close to you does it fall. You know most of the time it was 90% or better. 

Did you know that you can use astrology to find possible past life scenarios where you might have lived in different periods of history based on your sign. The Elements of Reincarnation by A.T. Mann. Basically this astrologer came up with chart to show what lifetimes are impacting your actions today. It would not show all your lifetimes but the ones that relate to your tasks this go round

Then there are Karmic Astrology and Karmic Relationships by Martin Schulman which illustrate how a certain combination in your chart can indicate your relationships with others in your current lifetime.

What does that prove about anything? Nothing much as cycles might explain it as much as planetary influences. So one period of time influences you to be one way and another differently. 

Personally I wasn't very good at astrology because it's about math. My scientist husband was better at it. Numbers are my weakness and astrology brought that out in spades.

Keep in mind for serious astrology, the time of birth can matter as much as the day. It impacts the moon in your sign, your ascendent and all the other planets that can have subtle or more important impact on who you are. If you really want to complicate it, this all can change through a person's lifetime with what some regarding as a progressive astrology chart.

Anyway what I did for this book did not get that complicated. I settled for year and day. I then had fun with one of my astrology books which has fun with the whole process. Born on A Rotten Day-- Illuminating and coping with the dark side of the Zodiac by Hazel Dixon-Cooper.

Just to give you an idea how she approached astrology, here is a traditional way to look at Aries-- Element-Fire; Quality-Cardinal; Polarity-Masculine. 

Her approach was Aries-- Element-Selfish; Quality-Bossy; Polarity-Aggressive. You can see how that could help a lot more for fleshing out a character than the more traditional approach.

Interestingly when I decided to find a birth date and sign for each of my characters, I thought about what their personalities were like as I already knew them to be from having written those earlier books. Only two had the same sign. Each actually had a sign that fit them perfectly. I had a Libra, Leo, Sagittarius, Cancer, Aquarius, Capricorn, Scorpio, Gemini, and Taurus (no Aries, Pisces or Virgo). I guarantee you that when I wrote these characters, I had not thought of their astrology signs.

Does that mean the fact that they did fit their signs a bad thing-- meaning they are stereotyped? Well, if they are, then so are we all because we do have traits that can work for us or against us. Whether our differences come from astrology, it doesn't matter. The basic qualities that we have which do fit an astrology signs could be influenced by having a reading-- except I hadn't done a reading for myself until I was into my 50s and yet my first astrology reading hit pretty close to my weaknesses and strengths.

 Doing an astrology chart for a character where you might be unsure of their personality could help you give them those little weaknesses and strengths that make them feel like someone you know-- maybe even are married to ;).